Donald Trump may have just broken the law
www.newsweek.com
Trump has come under scrutiny after a gun was auctioned off at a fundraiser held in his Mar-a-Lago, Florida, home.

Last weekend, an auction held at his Florida home saw the item, described as “a one of a kind Trump Glock from the 45th President of the United States Donald J. Trump,” go up for bidding during a charity event. Pictures circulating on social media show the gun being presented at the auction, with news website Meidas Touch saying that bidding for the item began at $10,000.

However, the transaction could land the former U.S. president in considerable trouble, given that federal law prohibits those under indictment from transacting firearms. Trump is embroiled in active legal proceedings, having testified at a civil trial over the New York investigation into financial fraud at the Trump Organization. The former president has denied all wrongdoing and repeatedly said that the ongoing federal and civil cases against him are part of a political witch hunt.

    • Telorand@reddthat.com
      251·
      1 年前

      All we can say with certainty is he gets special treatment, well beyond what any other nobody-defendant would receive. If he avoids all charges in his growing number of cases, then I’m with you that the evidence clearly indicates he is indeed above the law.

  • IHeartBadCode@kbin.social
    42·
    1 年前

    18 USC § 922 (d)(1)

    (d) It shall be unlawful for any person to sell or otherwise dispose of any firearm or ammunition to any person knowing or having reasonable cause to believe that such person, including as a juvenile

    (1) is under indictment for, or has been convicted in any court of, a crime punishable by imprisonment for a term exceeding one year

    For those wondering.

    EDIT: This is incorrect. It is 18 USC § 922 (n) as indicated by my reply to @Neato and thanks to them for pointing out my error.

    • Neato@kbin.social
      14·
      1 年前

      Doesn’t that just say you can’t sell a gun to someone under indictment. Not the other way around?

      • IHeartBadCode@kbin.social
        24·
        1 年前

        You’re right, it’s 18 USC § 922 (n) that covers the other way around.

        (n) It shall be unlawful for any person who is under indictment for a crime punishable by imprisonment for a term exceeding one year to ship or transport in interstate or foreign commerce any firearm or ammunition or receive any firearm or ammunition which has been shipped or transported in interstate or foreign commerce.

        I totally got ahead of myself pasting the related law. Thank you for your keen eyes.

  • Nougat@kbin.social
    281·
    1 年前

    He’s again violated his conditions of release.

    Among the agreed-upon conditions, Trump must not violate any laws in Georgia or elsewhere, he must appear in court as directed, he must not communicate about the facts of the case with fellow co-defendants – except through his legal team – and he must not intimidate co-defendants or witnesses. The order stipulates that such intimidation – “no direct or indirect threat of any nature” – includes posts on social media or reposts of posts made by others on social media.

  • shalafi@lemmy.worldEnglish
    298·
    1 年前

    This is probably a legal nothingburger.

    It’s a big deal if Trump was personally selling the gun. But it’s almost certainly for sale by a corporation, or other legal fiction, that he owns or has an interest in. This is one reason we have the idea of a corporation. The corporation is a “person”, not the CEO, board of directors, etc. and can’t be held accountable, as a whole, for the actions of a single man. I know that sounds corrupt as hell, but how would you like to lose your job, or be held legally accountable for the actions of your superiors?

    And if you don’t like it, and I mostly don’t, I invite you to read the first section of the US Code.

    "In determining the meaning of any Act of Congress, unless the context indicates otherwise-, bla, bla, bla,

    the words “person” and “whoever” include corporations, companies, associations, firms, partnerships, societies, and joint stock companies, as well as individuals;"

    Guys, I doubt he listed the thing on eBay under his personal account. Feel me?

    IANAL, so I hope someone more educated than I has an angle to nail him on this. I’ll take every coffin nail I can get on this man.

    • Pretzilla@lemmy.world
      15·
      1 年前

      His Corp is under fraud indictment in NY.

      Just piling on all the shitty and questionable things he does is helpful at least to promote awareness of same.

    • TherouxSonfeir@lemm.ee
      121·
      1 年前

      Maybe. But was it registered to him? He has to transfer that right? That probably still counts.

    • perviouslyiner@lemm.eeEnglish
      8·
      1 年前

      If that was a valid workaround, couldn’t any criminal just create corporations to own their guns?

      • shalafi@lemmy.worldEnglish
        5·
        1 年前

        Well, yeah? We do it daily.

        Say I want a suppressor. OK, there’s some weird legal shit here.

        I can do the paperwork and pay my $200. That can is only good for that particular gun, and only as long as I own it.

        So I create a trust, another legal fiction like a corporation, and put the gun inside that trust. Yes, it’s a legal “bucket”, kinda like a corporation. (That’s really sloppy, but you get the idea.)

        Now I can pass the trust onto my heirs, and they get to keep the gun/suppressor combo.

        Yes, it’s really that dumb. And yes, it works that way.

  • FuglyDuck@lemmy.worldEnglish
    183·
    1 年前

    If they were going to go after this, he’d already be gone after when he handled the trump Glock in that gunstore

  • AutoTL;DR@lemmings.worldBEnglish
    6·
    1 年前

    This is the best summary I could come up with:

    Pictures circulating on social media show the gun being presented at the auction, with news website Meidas Touch saying that bidding for the item began at $10,000.

    Meidas Touch says that Trump was present at the auction last weekend, with video stills and pictures of him smiling and socializing being published in its report.

    Dave Aronberg, the state attorney for Palm Beach County, Florida, told Meidas Touch that Trump could land himself in even more legal jeopardy if the gun can be proved to belong to the former president.

    "These unanswered questions could lead to a criminal investigation, and prosecutors could ask the court to decide whether this violates Trump’s pre-trial release.

    “The defendant either purchased a gun in violation of the law and his conditions of release, or seeks to benefit from his supporters’ mistaken belief that he did so,” the court filing read.

    “It would be a separate federal crime, and thus a violation of the defendant’s conditions of release, for him to purchase a gun while this felony indictment is pending.”

    The original article contains 729 words, the summary contains 174 words. Saved 76%. I’m a bot and I’m open source!